Witnesses thwart St. Charles purse-snatching

Police credited witnesses Monday for the quick arrest of a 22-year-old Geneva woman accused of snatching an elderly woman's purse in downtown St. Charles.

Maria J. Ruiz-Tagle, of the 800 block of Bennett Street, ran up behind the 79-year-old woman and grabbed her purse about 2:20 p.m. Friday on the 300 block of Second Street, police said. Witnesses at a nearby salon immediately called police and began chasing the suspect, who dropped the purse on the Illinois Street bridge and ran to a waiting vehicle.

"The witnesses were able to provide officers with a detailed description of the suspect along with a description of the suspect vehicle," St. Charles police said in a news release. "Police personnel took Ruiz-Tagle into custody a short time later after the vehicle was spotted on the east side of Geneva."

Ruiz-Tagle is charged with one count of robbery, a Class 1 felony with a standard sentencing range of four to 15 years in prison or probation. She was being held in the Kane County jail Monday with bond set at $40,000.

According to police, the driver of the vehicle in which Ruiz-Tagle fled also was questioned but not charged. Ruiz-Tagle is scheduled to appear April 29 in front of Judge James C. Hallock.